The 7 Top Improv Classes in London

Hoopla takes improvisation seriously, and with 14 years of experience, it claims to be the UK’s biggest improv school. Its ethos is that improvisation is “for everyone,” where beginners and old hands alike can flourish in “a warm and supportive atmosphere where you are free to play.” Classes are held at venues  

across central London including London Bridge, Liverpool Street, Moorgate, and King’s Cross. 

Unlike some of the other classes listed here, Hoopla also has its own venue, which it calls “the UK & London’s first improv theatre.” Located in the upstairs theatre space of a south London pub, Hoopla runs improv comedy shows every night, so there’s plenty of opportunity to showcase your new skills if you want.

Whatever your improvisational needs, it’s likely Hoopla has them covered, offering everything from an eight-week evening course (£220) to various taster days and drop-in “see if you like it” sessions. The classes are structured around four different levels – Beginners, Performance, Scenes, and Long Form – so you can choose what suits you. Plus, once you’ve completed training, you can audition to be part of Hoopla’s house team of top-flight improvisers.

See Also: 8 Tips for Your First Improv Class

If you want improv classes but also want to network with all kinds of creatives, City Academy might be for you. In its many venues across London, you’ll find aspiring filmmakers, actors, writers, and, yes, improvisers strutting their stuff. City Academy runs improv classes at three different levels of expertise, as well as specialist workshops focusing on subjects such as comedic improv. The six-week introductory course costs £219.

Once you’ve completed the first two stages of training, level three culminates in a public, ticketed showcase so you can show everyone what you’ve learnt. City Academy also has its own Improvisation Performance Company, where students can audition to be part of a professional improv team.

One of the capital’s leading improv schools, the Free Association’s pitch to aspiring students is that it offers “more grounded play” and a structured improv path. There are six levels of class from beginner onwards, and most courses are made up of eight sessions costing around £250 to £300.

Based in north London, the Free Association stresses the fact that it offers a  community of like-minded performers. Teachings are based on its own syllabus, “a huge (ever growing) book, meticulously written and structured in order to help you learn everything from the fundamentals of long-form improv through to advanced moves, forms and techniques… all while staying true to the FA’s unique style.”  

If that sounds a bit of you, you can spend £20 on a taster class just to confirm it. There are also niche classes on scene work, narrative structure, writing, and the “Harold,” a technique made famous by the starry American UCB improv group that launched the careers of people such as Fey, Amy Poehler, and Adam McKay.

See Also: What's Improv and How Can it Help UK Actors?

Offering improv classes focusing on creativity, collaboration, and communication, Sprout Ideas is led by improv tutor and ferret owner Dave Bourn. The performance group formed in 1998 and has done multiple Edinburgh Fringes and improv festivals, but now it is sharing its expertise in various north London venues. Sprout takes on beginners and expert improvisers and offers drop-in “playtime” classes if you want to give them a go. If improv isn’t enough to keep you busy, Sprout offers standup comedy classes, too.

See Also: The 5 Rules of Improv

Are you a beginner? Do you just need a refresher on technique? Or are you ready to perform for an audience? Whatever your level, the London Improv Theatre, based in various venues across the capital, has a class for you. Founder Jake Lyons runs the Saturday drop-in sessions for beginners, which are limited to 12 people per class, so you’ll definitely get time in the improv spotlight. There’s also a Wednesday evening class that focuses on scene work for £25, and a five-hour intensive Improv Sunday for £47 aimed at the more advanced player. As well as the classes, the London Improv Theatre also runs a regular “Spontaneous Sunday Show,” where “contrasting” improv groups come together for a mass performance.

If you’re mad about musicals and can belt out a show tune, then the improv classes offered by the gang at Showstopper!, the improvised West End musical, may well be for you. For 16 years this crack team has been creating totally original all-singing, all-dancing, made-up musical extravaganzas for eager audiences across the country. 

Now it’s offering improv courses for both beginners as well as more experienced maker-uppers. If you want to be in the room where it happens, Showstopper! has got plenty of options ranging from evening classes for a couple of months to more intensive week-long courses. There is also an option that culminates in a public performance if you feel the urge to show off your recreated Evita, Phantom, or Alexander Hamilton.

See Also: 7 Benefits of Improv

If you’re serious about acting and serious about improv, the very serious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama might be a good fit. Aimed very specifically at actors, its eight-session “Improvisation for Actors” course costs £315. 

The classes hope to help students “gain confidence with spontaneity, presence and improvisation, and provide you with the tools to work on creating backstory and other life experiences for a character in a play or film.” The drama school boasts such starry alums as Dame Judi Dench and Lord Laurence Olivier, so the tutors must know what they’re doing (although we can neither deny nor confirm Jude and Larry completed the improv course).